Situational Judgement Test (SJT)

The SJT replaces the previous ‘white space’ application form questions as a measure of meeting the national person specification. The SJT is taken in exam conditions, and consists of 70 questions in 2 hours 20 minutes. It contains two question formats: rank five possible responses in order and select the three most appropriate responses. A maximum of 50 points is available.

All applicants to the Foundation Programme commencing in August 2018, including the Academic Foundation Programme, are required to take the SJT in the UK on either:

• Friday 01 December 2017• Monday 08 January 2018

An applicant’s UK medical school or the UK Foundation Programme Office’s (UKFPO) Eligibility Office will provide information on which date(s) is/are available and how to book a place once confirmed as eligible to apply.

Process for reviewing exceptionally low SJT scores

SJT Practice Paper

The UKPO and MSC Assessment have produced two 70 item practice SJT test papers (a second practice paper added in October 2017), to help you familiarise yourself with the test format. The answers and rationales to these questions are also provided for reference. Questions, answers and rationales in these papers are copyrighted MSC Assessment.

The questions in the practice papers are designed to illustrate the format of the live test paper, the range of scenarios and item types, and to help you practice time management. You will receive a score based on your answers to the practice paper, however please note that it is your score relative to other applicants which determines your rank order for foundation school allocations. Please be aware that the level of difficulty for the SJT practice papers may differ from the actual test. Please refer to the FAQ on applicant performance on the SJT.

The SJT replaces the previous ‘white space’ application form questions as a measure of meeting the national person specification. The SJT is taken in exam conditions, and consists of 70 questions in 2 hours 20 minutes. It contains two question formats: rank five possible responses in order and select the three most appropriate responses. A maximum of 50 points is available.

All applicants to the Foundation Programme commencing in August 2018, including the Academic Foundation Programme, are required to take the SJT in the UK on either:

• Friday 01 December 2017• Monday 08 January 2018

An applicant’s UK medical school or the UK Foundation Programme Office’s (UKFPO) Eligibility Office will provide information on which date(s) is/are available and how to book a place once confirmed as eligible to apply.

The EPM is a measure of clinical and non-clinical skills, knowledge and performance up to the point of application. The EPM comprises three elements; medical school performance to date in deciles (replacing previous quartiles), for which 34-43 points are available; additional degrees, which are worth up to 5 points; and publications, for which up to 2 points are available. A maximum of 50 points are available.

All applicants to the Foundation Programme, including the Academic Foundation Programme, will be awarded an EPM score.

FP 2017 SJT Technical Report

Every year, the Work Psychology Group undertakes a detailed evaluation of the SJT used for selection the Foundation Programme, the item development process and item-level analysis including reliability and validity, as well as analysis by applicant groups and recommendations for future improvements. The technical report of the FP 2017 SJT confirms the overall reliability of the SJT to be good (0.75). To read this report and those from previous years, please click here.